After a bloody end to Season 3, death pervaded the panel, which opened with an Oscar’s style “In Memoriam” to the many, many fallen characters of the first three seasons (this reporter got to 50 before she gave up). “I have many characters, so killing a few…there’s always more,” joked Martin, continuing in his defense that the producers have “turned everything up to eleven from the books. They’ve killed many characters who are still alive in the books. I’ll only take some of the bloodthirsty blame here.” One of the fallen even showed up at the panel: Jason Momoa appeared on stage to give Clarke a quick kiss on the cheek.

Fairley talked a bit about preparing for her character’s death, comparing it to a piece of music. “You just have to work your way through it. You don’t want to overplay it; you want to discover it as you go along.” Madden also commented on the Red Wedding, admitting that he cried on the flight home afterward.

Dinklage provided some interesting insight into Tryion, explaining why he can snark off to Joffery. “He knows that his father is the true ruler,” Dinklage said, adding that

Tywin Lannister shares Tyrion’s feelings about the boy king, he’s just not as vocal about it. Dinklage also talked about the books, admitting that he doesn’t read them because he’d rather not know what’s coming for his character.

Martin also talked a little about writing the books, stating he feels the pressure to keep up with the show: “The locomotive is coming up behind me and I’m still laying the tracks.” He also left open the possibility of writing more books about Westeros, although he will not write a prequel about Robert’s rebellion.